Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

As Landeacute;vi-Strauss freely explores the mythologies of the Americas, with occasional incursions into European and Japanese folklore, tales of sloths and squirrels interweave with discussions of Freud, Saussure, "signification," and plays by Sophocles and Labiche. Landeacute;vi-Strauss critiques psychoanalytic interpretation and defends the interpretive powers of structuralism.

"Electrifying. . . . A brilliant demonstration of structural analysis in action. . . . Can be read with pleasure and profit by anyone interested in that aspect of self-discovery that comes through knowledge of the universal and timeless myths that live on in all of us."and#8212;Jonathan Sharp, San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

"With all its epistemological depth, the book reads at times like a Simenon or a Lewis Carroll, fusing concise methodology with mastery of style."and#8212;Bernadette Bucher, American Ethnologist

"[An] engagingly provocative exploration of mythology in the Americas. . . . Always a good read."and#8212;Choice

"A playful, highly entertaining book, fluently and elegantly translated by Bandeacute;nandeacute;dicte Chorier."and#8212;Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, New York Times Book Review

Synopsis

This book is entertainment for the intellect, a diverting series of themes and variations that explain simultaneously the relations between the insectivorous nighthawk, marital jealousy, the art of pottery, and the rich creation myths of the Jivaro people of Ecuador and Peru.